Lamp socket



Oct. 11, 1938.'

G. A. JOHNSON 2,132,852

LAMP SOCKET Original Filed Dec. 5, 1931 2 Sheets-Sheet l &m 14-7771"? 7 7'.

061:. 11, v JOHNSON.

LAMP SOCKET Original Filed Dec. 5, 1931 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 v Q rMQQWQM y Patented Oct. 11, 1938 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE Original application December 5, 1931, Serial No. 579,130. Divided and this application June 27,

1936, Serial No. 87,610

4 Claims.

This invention relates to electric lamp sockets and is herein illustrated as applied to that type of socket commonly known. as a candle socket, and this application is a division of an application for United States Letters Patent filed by me December 5, 1931, Serial No. 579,130, for

Lamp socket, which issued as Patent Number 2,045,915, June 30, 1936.

One of the important objects of this invention is the production of a socket member of a standardized form, which, when an order is received for a specified length of candle socket, is adapted to be mounted upon a support suitable for the jacket specified in the order.

Another object of the invention is the provision of a candle socket support, either extensible .or otherwise, which is adapted to be permanently secured to the socket by an operation which is simple, .efiicient .and consumes a minimum of time.

Another important object of the invention is the provision of an extensible support for the standardized form of lamp socket which is of simple and efiicient construction and which .is

5 adapted for expeditious adjustment and for effective locking in various positions of extension.

Other objects of the invention will be more specifically described and pointed out hereinafter.-

An important feature of the invention relates to the provision in an extensible support of means whereby the support may be easily and rapidly adjusted to suit the length of jacket in which the socket is to be mounted and for look ing the support in adjusted position.

In its preferred form, the extensible member comprises two members in telescopic relation provided with interlocking means for fastening them together in various adjusted positions of extension. The interlocking means may be of any suitable form arranged in a graduated scale to conform to the scale of various lengths of jackets in use in the industry.

In the accompanying drawings illustrating one embodiment of my invention, Figure 1 is a side elevation on a reduced scale of a complete candle socket fixture with a lamp in position;

Fig. 2 is a vertical, central, sectional view of the fixture with the candle jacket and lamp removed;

, Fig; 3 is a side elevation of the same looking from right to left in Fig. 2;

. Fig. 4 is .a central, Vertical, sectional view of the standardized socket pro-per, comprising a of extensible support;

screw shell with insulation, contacts and support base on line 44 in Fig. 2;

Fig. 5 is a side elevation of a socket member of standard form having a short non-extensible support affixed thereto;

Fig. 6 is a bottom plan View of the screw shell;

Fig. 7 is a top plan view looking downwardly in Fig. 4 of the insulating disk;

Fig. 8 is a bottom plan View of the same;

Fig. 9 is a plan view of the member for insu lating the central contact;

Fig. 10 is a view in perspective of the shell contact;

Fig. 11 is a similar View of the central lamp contact;

Fig. 12 is a cross sectional View on line I2--l2 in Fig. 3;

Fig. 13 is a view in perspective of a support base;

Fig. 14 is a side elevation of an extensible support provided with interlocking means for locking the telescopic members in adjusted relation; 1

Fig. 15 is another side elevation of the same looking from right to left in Fig. 14;

Fig. 16 is a cross sectional View on line 16-16 in Fig. 15;

Fig. 1'7 is a side elevation of a modified form Fig. 18 is another side elevation of the same looking from right to left in Fig. 17;

Fig. 19 is a cross sectional view on line 19-19 in Fig. '18;

Fig. .20 is a side elevation of the locking screw before it is headed which is used in the modified iormof Figs. 17 and 18; and.

Fig. 21 is a similar view of the locking screw after the head has been formed; and

Fig. 22 is a cross sectional view showing the telescopic members for an extensible support of slightly modified form provided with interlocking means.

Referring tothe drawings and more particularly to Figure 4, which shows a socket proper of standardized form adapted to be used with supports of various kinds and lengths, l5 designates a lamp receiving screw shell, 16 an insulating disk mounted in the base portion of the shell, I! a support base, IS an insulating plate, 19 a fixed contact and 20 a screw for looking .all these parts together at the base of said shell.

The screw shell is of the usual well-known form, except that its base is provided with a central rectangular opening 2| (Fig. 6). The

insulating disk I6 is somewhat smaller in diameter than the inside diameter of the shell so that it may be easily mounted therein but its thickness is relatively great to give it the necessary strength and rigidity. The bottom face 22 (Fig. 8) of the disk has a shallow rectangular recess 23 which registers with the opening 21 in the shell, and to insure this registration in the assembling process, the base of the shell is provided with a rectangular inwardly projecting portion 24 which fits in a shallow recess 25 adjacent the recess .23 in the bottom face of the disk.

The support base ll is made of flat ribbon material bent into a U-shape and is mounted in reversed position with its head in the recess 23 in the bottom face of the disk with its two forks or legs projecting downwardly from the base of the shell (Fig. 13). The disk and the support base are provided with holes 26 and 2'1 respectively for receiving loosely the screw 20, the end of which is threaded into the fixed contact 19. Each fork or leg of the support base has its reduced end 29 turned outwardly at right angles for a purpose to be hereinafter explained. Between the head of the base support and the fixed contact is mounted the insulating plate 18 which extends between the legs or" the support base and across the rectangular opening 2! in engagement with the outer face of the base of the shell and is provided with a hole 30 to receive loosely the screw 20. When this screw is tightened, the disk, base support, insulating plate and fixed contact are all drawn together tightly and the base of the shell is locked between the disk and plate which also holds the support base in locked position.

The screw 29 and contact i9 together with a spring contact 32 make up the central lamp contact. The spring contact is of fiat stock provided with a hole in one end to permit it to be loosely mounted on the screw 20 and held by the head thereof in a rectangular recess 34 in the top face of the insulating disk, the other end being bent over to serve as a resilient contact. The sides of the recess in which it is held by the head of the screw prevent lateral movement. The fixed contact of ribbon stock (Fig. 11) has a threaded hole 36 to receive the end of the screw 20 and has one end turned downwardly to hold threaded therein a binding screw 31 to which may be attached a current carrying wire.

Seated in the depression 23 and riveted to the outer face of the shell base is a shell contact 40 made of ribbon stock (Fig- 10) in a right-angled form carrying threaded in that arm which projects from the shell base a binding screw.3l which cooperates with the bent-over corners 42 of the contact for holding the end of a currentcarrying wire or conductor. A circular recess 43 in the bottom face of the insulating disk receives the head of the rivet which fastens the contact to the shell base.

For preventing relative rotary movement of the parts when a lamp is screwed into or out of the screw sl ell, the various parts may be interlocked by nieans of projections and depressions. For example, the base of the shell may have an inwardly projecting boss 45 which enters a circular recess 46 in the bottom face of the disk and the fixed contact 19 a similar boss 41 cooperating with a circular recess 48 in the insulating plate. These interlocking devices, however, may be of any suitable form and variously located. The socket member as thus made up constitutes a standard part of a candle socket which may be mounted upon either an extensible support or a non-extensible support of a length corresponding to the length of jacket of the candle socket in which it is to be incorporated.

In Figs. 2 and 3, the standard socket member is shown mounted on an extensible support which comprises a lower forked member 5Q having a tubular lower end 5! provided with an interior thread permitting it to be screwed upon the threaded part of a tubular fixture support 52 carrying insulated conductors 54 and 55, which conductors are adapted to be carried up through the extensible support and connected to the contacts l9 and 4d respectively. The two forks or legs of the member 59 are U-shaped in cross section (Fig. 12) and slidably mounted therein are two skeleton extensible shanks 51 also U-shaped in cross section, which are adapted to slide vertically in the legs of the forked member for increasing or decreasing its length. In order to hold the extensible shanks 5'! in adjustable position, a screw 58 and a key 59 are mounted in the upper ends of the shanks of the member 50 transversely of that member. The screw 58 is mounted loosely in the hole in one of the shanks or legs and its end is threaded through the other so that the turning of the screw tends to draw the two legs together or to permit them to operate. The key 59 is in the form of a fiat bar having its end portions 66 restricted to enter slots in the two legs of the member 56 and to form shoulders 6| which are adapted to bear against the inner surfaces of the shanks 5?. To facilitate the adjustment of the shanks iii in relation to the legs of the member 58, each of said shanks may be provided with a series of interior grooves or notches 62 into which the shoulders on the key are adapted to fit.. These notches are spaced apart a distance corresponding to the various differences in length of jackets to be used in candle sockets, so that the extensible support may be easily adjusted to suit a particular length of jacket and, when so adjusted, may be locked in that position by turning up the screw 58 to force the shanks 51 into tight engagement with the shoulders on the key. These shoulders being located in grooves or notches are thereby locked against displacement. By releasing the screw 58 which releases the. shoulders on the key from the grooves, the length of the extensible member may be Varied by moving the shanks 51 into a new position. Preferably, the legs or shanks are of skeleton form, each having a longitudinal recess 63 and each leg of the forked member 50 having a longitudinal cut-out portion 64.

For fastening the extensible support permanently to the socket member, the upper end of each. shank 51 is provided with an open recess 65 adapted to receive a finger 29 of the base support and the flanges of the shank 51 on its upper end are then swaged around the side edges of the legs of the base support.

The non-extensible support 10, such as is shown in Fig. 5, is of somewhat similar construction to the forked member 50, being also a forked member having its lower end in the form of a cylindrical threaded portion H to permit it to be mounted upon the threaded part of the fixture support 52. The upper endsof the forks are of the same construction as the upper ends of the extensible members 5"! in Figs. 2 and 3', and the fianges of said upper ends are swaged about the legs of the support base I! in order to secure the member lEl permanently to the socket member. Since the various sizes of candle jackets are til standard, the manufacturers, by having a supply of non-extensible supports of various standard lengths, may,'by attaching supports of the proper length, complete candle sockets within a very short time for delivery to fill an order for sockets .shown in Fig. 2, a cup-shaped member 15 being mounted on the threaded portion of the supporting fixture 52. The jacket Tl, simulating a candle, is then mounted over the socket and is held against lateral movement by the insulating cylinder l8. When the electric lamp I9 is screwed into the shell, the fixture then presents the appearance shown in Fig. 1.

In Figures 14 to 22 are shown several modified forms of extensible supports in further illustration of my invention. The support shown in Figs. 14 to .lGinclusive embraces a lower forked member 88 with a tubular end 8|, the forks being U- shaped in cross-section, and a pair of skeleton shanks 82 arranged in telescopic relation to said member. For locking the parts together in adjusted telescopic position, I employ a screw 83 and key 84 similar in construction to those shown, the ends of the key fitting slots 85 in the member 80. In this form, however, the interior grooves or notches 62 of the first form are omitted and the parts are locked together by interlocking means comprising an inwardly pressed boss 81 on one of the forks of the member 88 located near its upper end, which boss is adapted to project into any one of a longitudinal series of depressions 88 formed in the outer face of one of the legs or shanks 82, these depressions being spaced apart to correspond to the variation in length in the candle jackets in commercial use. The legs or shanks 82 in this form and in all the other forms shown in the drawings, are attached to the support base of the standardized form of socket in the same manner as shown in Figs. 2 and 3. In adjusting this form of support to vary its length, the screw 83is loosened to permit the forked member to be adjusted longitudinally on the legs or shanks with the boss 81 projecting into the proper depression 88 and the screw 83 is then tightened, the key 84 serving as a separator to prevent inward movement of the legs or shanks 82 in this operation. When the screw is tightened, the interlocking means prevent relative telescopic movement between the parts.

In Figures 17 to 19 inclusive is shown another form of extensible support, in which the forked member 95 with tubular end 94, is unchanged, but the two legs or shanks 96 are secured together at their lower ends by a cross piece 91 preferably integral and a different form of locking screw 98 is provided which eliminates the necessity for a key. This screw is first formed as shown in Fig. 20, having an enlarged middle portion 98, the end shoulders of which are adapted to engage the inner faces of the two legs 95, with a restricted threaded end 99 adapted to be threaded into a hole in the upper end of one of the forks of the member 95, the other end I00 of the screw being of restricted diameter and mounted loosely in a hole in the upper end of the other leg of the member 95. The screw in this condition is mounted in position in the extensible support and the end I00 is then formed into the head IOI of the screw, as shown in Fig. 21, thereby locking the screw in the extensible support. This form of support is adjusted by loosening the screw and sliding the socket member into proper position on the legs or shanks 98 and then tightening the screw which draws the two outer shanks 95 into tight engagement with the inner shanks 96, the shoulders on the middle portion of the screw engaging the inner faces of the legs to prevent inward movement thereof. Interlocking bosses and depressionsmay be provided on this form,

if desired, but as a general rule, this form of screw 5M) will be found to lock the parts firmly in telescopic relation.

In Figure 22, there is shown a cross-section of an extensible member in which the side flanges of the two telescopic members I and H16 are 1;5 turned at an oblique angle instead of a right angle, the outer member being provided in one flange with an inwardly pressed boss Ill! adapted to engage in a depression l88 of a series of such depressions in the inner member. This form 11135 11 0 be provided with any one of the interlocking and spacing means shown in Figures 14 to 21.

To facilitate the adjustment of the extensible support to jackets of different standard lengths, a series of graduations H8 may be marked on L2 one of the shanks 96, as shown in Fig. 18, to be read from the upper end of the adjacent shank of the forked member 95, which graduations may be numbered downwardly as shown.

In the drawings, the candle socket is shown as being of the keyless type, that is, operated at a distance from the socket by a push button or other circuit closing device. My invention may, however, be applied to key or pull chain sockets by the addition of a switch mechanism to the 35 socket mechanism, which application would be obvious to: anyone skilled in the art and would involve no material changes in the construction of my socket as exemplified herein.

It will be observed that the socket of my invention is of very simple construction and involves a minimum of parts and that it is easily assembled, thereby enabling the socket to be manufactured at a very low cost.

It is to be understood that my invention is not 45 to be limited to the exact construction herein shown and described, since it may be embodied in other forms of construction within the scope of the following claims.

What I claim is:

1. An extensible support for an electric candle socket comprising two forked members arranged in parallel telescopic relation, the inner of said members comprising a pair of parallel forks adapted to be permanently attached at one end to a lamp socket and the outer of said members having a pair of parallel forks adapted to enclose the forks of said inner member and having their lower ends connected together by a threaded nipple, the forks of both members lying in parallel planes and one of said members being provided with a series of equally spaced depressions and the other of said members having a projection adapted, when said members are held in tight engagement, to interlock in any one of a plurality of extensible relations to prevent telescopic movement, means between the forks of the inner of said members to hold them in separated position and a screw mounted in said outer member and threaded in one side thereof for drawing the two forks of said outer member into tight engagement with the forks of the inner member.

2. An extensible support for an electric candle socket comprising two forked members arranged in parallel telescopic relation, each of said forked 75 members comprising a pair of forks in spaced apart parallel relation, the forks of said outer member being U-shaped in cross-section for permitting the forks of said inner member to be nested therein and the forks of the inner of said members being adapted to be permanently connected at one end to the forks of a support base, the forks of both members lying in parallel planes and said inner member being provided with a series of equally spaced depressions corresponding to the standard lengths of candle jackets and said outer member having a projection adapted, when said members are held in tight engagement, to interlock with any one of said depressions for varying the length of said support, means mounted between the forks of the inner of said members to hold them in separated position and a screw mounted in said outer member and threaded in one side thereof for drawing the two forks of said outer member into tight engagement with the forks of the inner member.

3. An extensible support for an electric candle socket comprising two forked members arranged in parallel telescopic relation, each of said members comprising a pair of forks in spaced apart relation and all in parallel planes, the forks of both members being U-shaped in cross-section and the forks of said inner member being nested in the forks of the outer member and being adapted to be permanently connected at their free ends to the forks of a support base, one of said members being provided with a series of equally spaced depressions corresponding to the standard lengths of candle jackets and the other of said members having a projection adapted, when said members are held in tight engagement, to interlock with any one of said depressions for varying the length of said support, a spacing plate mounted between the forks of the inner of said members to hold them in separated position and a screw mounted in said outer member and threaded in one side thereof for drawing the two forks of said outer member into tight engagement with the forks of the inner member.

4. An extensible support for an electric candle socket comprising two forked members arranged in parallel telescopic relation, each of said members comprising a pair of forks in spaced apart relation and all in parallel planes, the forks of both members being U-shaped in cross-section and the forks of said inner member being nested in the forks of said outer member and being adapted to be permanently connected at their free ends to the forks of a support base, said inner member being provided with a series of equally spaced depressions corresponding to the standard lengths of candle jackets and said outer memher having a projection adapted, when said members are held in tight engagement, to interlock with any one of said depressions for varying the length of said support, a spacing plate mounted between the forks of the inner of said members to hold them in separated position and a screw mounted in said outer member and threaded in one side thereof for drawing the two forks of said outer member into tight engagement with the forks of the inner member.

GUSIAF A. JOHNSON. 

